Sleep....need... sleep

[Vincenzoo]

Our desperate attempts to get our six months' old baby to sleep through the night have backfired badly. Left to his own devices, he would wake up at midnightish, 3 ish and be up around 6.

We tried feeding and changing him at 11 but now he wakes at 3 and won't go back to sleep - or when he does, wakes up immediately, crying. We alternate who does the 3 o'clock feed so at least one of us is completely grumpy every other day. It's a small house though, so neither of us get to sleep much when he doesn't.

He was always so good, rarely crying, now he is driving us both to exhaustion.

Any tips on getting a baby to sleep through the night, or have we just got to let it happen when he's ready?

Help appreciated.

I am hugely jealous.

My DS wakes every 2-3 hrs (3 if I'm really really lucky), until recently was every 1.5 hrs. He has been teething though so now he has loads of teeth I am hoping things will settle down soon.
Last night went down at 9pm, awake at 11pm, 1am, 3.45am, 5.30am, 6,30am - he is now fast asleep (the little monkey angel) while I am now awake

==> joining you in a yawn

All my 5 have slept well including my dd 16wks who sleeps 7-7 most nights.It is probably luck but as they all didnt settle after night feeds i have always "forced" the issue somewhat so i will just tell you what i do.

Limit daytinme naps to only 3 x 1 hr-they pretty much did this themselves a none slept well in day.
Let them feed on demand all day.
They sleep in pram in day then basket at night-different place to sleep at night i think gives a message.
Bedtime routine,bath,bottle in dark room then into bed.
Any night feeds are done in the dark with no chatting or smiles and only change nappy if dirty.
I found all mine cut out the night rather than the early morning feed eg,they slept thru the 10 or 11pm feed but still woke at 2am which i had to stick out and it got later and later untill went thru.The only time i ever woke dd for a night feed she fed all night

This has even worked for this baby and she has reflux and a cleft palate too.
As i said i may just be lucky but i hope it helps.

Thanks for the advice ledkr. Much appreciated.

We're doing a lot of what you suggest but not all, so will persevere and try putting him down in the pram during the day. I'm sure we'll get there in the end.

I hope you do too, schmoz. I feel for you.

my 5mo wakes twice during the night usually, 1 and 4. Sometimes a third time will be thrown in as a curveball. And i spend whole days fighting her to nap, even just a short one! I think it just luck of the draw though as my eldest was sleeping through by 3 months. nothing done differently. I'm no help, but at least you know that you are not alone.

We went through a lot of sleep regression around 6 months. It did only last a couple of weeks but was a little tiring, even with the cot side-car attached to our bed so I didn't have to get out of bed to feed. Agree with the advice about dark/hush/quiet/minimum contact.